30kai no kiss
by pengiechan
Summary: Thirty kisses, each a little different than the rest. AyumuxHiyono, anime based. On hiatus.
1. look here

**30kai no kiss**  
"30th kiss"

This list ("30 kisses") has been done over and over again, but I've been working on it ever-so-slowly since 2005...? Wow. So, while people could very easily say "it's been done before," I'm still willing to have fun with it!

These are mostly anime-based, due to _certain manga endings _that I don't like to discuss. I started working on these when the Spiral manga was still in progress, after all, so I'm not willing to throw my pieces away just because one medium ended differently than the other. (tl;dr: The anime is an alternate universe and I can write as much Ayuhiyo as I want, nyah nyah.)

Enjoy!

* * *

"Narumi-san! Look, look!"

"Hn."

"Narumi-saaan, look here!"

"Nn."

"Please look, Narumi-san! Pleeease?"

"No."

"Narumi-san." When she said his name like that it was obvious that she was exasperated, and probably close to throwing a temper tantrum. Ayumu sighed and allowed the cooking magazine to slip off his face, the periodical landing on the rooftop with a quiet thud. For a moment the world was all sunlight and sky, but then it was filled with her and her hair tickling his nose as she kissed him. He sneezed and she broke away laughing, her cheeks bright with a blush. "Narumi-san ruined it again."

"You didn't have to surprise me."

"It's fun, though..."

"I won't look next time."

She pouted and this time he laughed, stretching his arm upwards to push aside her hair before she kissed him a second time, and the sunlight was lost somewhere in between them and forgotten.


	2. news

She always had something new to say, some little fact to share or story to tell. She always had something to babble on about until he whacked her on the top of the head with whatever he happened to be carrying at the moment and told her to shut up. Nobody liked girls who talked as much as she did... at least, nobody was _supposed_ to like them, but certain people had weaknesses for certain things, and that just couldn't be helped. She would complain about him for a little while afterwards and call him all sorts of names, but by lunchtime (or at least by the end of the day) all would be forgiven and she would be right by his side again, speaking cheerfully of one thing or another. He should have tired of it but he never did, because something about her personality attracted him to her, and he too found himself forgiving her. Maybe, he mused, he was too kind to her sometimes.

And it was no different now, as she sat in his apartment and told him about the story she'd been writing for the school newspaper. She was going into far too much detail than was needed, distracting him as he tried to prepare dinner for his sister-in-law. This was perfectly normal, though, because she was always at least a little distracting, even when asleep or sitting completely still--

"What news does Narumi-san have?"

He paused at the sound of these unfamiliar words and glanced over one shoulder, spoon in hand and ready to drip sauce all over the front of his apron. "What?"

"I'm tired of talking. Narumi-san never tells me what's been happening to him." She peered at him over the top rung of her chair, turned around and sitting backwards (something that annoyed him to no end), one eyebrow raised just a little. "Has anything new happened?"

"Ah..." He returned to cooking, recovering from his surprise. "No."

"Have... you done anything exciting lately?"

"No."

"Have you... read any good books? Seen any movies? Done anything but sulk and sleep on the roof when you should be in class?"

He almost chuckled. Almost. "No."

"Why does Narumi-san always have to be so _dull_?!" She rose from her chair with fists clenched and eyes bright, frowning, coming towards him. "Why do I always have to be the one talking? Can't Narumi-san and I have a discussion like normal people do?"

"You'd talk over me if I tried to say anything."

She gasped as if she was offended, hands on hips, glaring up at him. "Narumi-san!"

"It's true. You talk too much." He poked her in the forehead with his spoon, leaving behind an angry red smear of sauce. She puffed her cheeks up and he snorted, turning away--only to have the spoon yanked from his hand and sauce splattered on his cheek. He hesitated, wiping it away with the back of his hand, looking down at her with shock--yes, it was shock, because she had never dared to do such a thing before, and also because she was cute when she made a face like that--

"Narumi-san is mean." She tapped him on the nose with the spoon, then made an effort to wipe the mess from her forehead. "I only say as much as I do because you don't say anything at all!"

"You still talk too much."

"I do not! Narumi-san just thinks that I do because he doesn't talk at all, and even when he does talk it's only to tell me to be quiet, or to tell me that I'm stupid, and that's not a very nice thing to say--"

He smirked and that said it all, and she made a noise that only she could make, lunging at him again with the spoon and trying to paint his entire face red. This time, however, he took the utensil from her and threw it down on the kitchen counter, holding her wrist tightly in his as he caught her between his body and the wall. Her eyes went wide and she blinked at him, mouth open, limbs going limp under the pressure of his figure and the intensity of his gaze. Without thinking he smirked again and bent his head close to hers, kissing away the rest of the sauce that still remained on her forehead. "I have news now," he mumbled, and for once she didn't say anything at all.


	3. jolt

"I'm cold."

He heard this and understood it as a silent order, rising from the couch and proceeding to a nearby storage closet. He peered inside, and after a moment retrieved a blanket from the top shelf and kicked the door closed behind him. She smiled gratefully at him as he returned to the couch and laughed under her breath when he insisted on unfolding the blanket and draping it around her shoulders. She snuggled deep into the material and as he sat down beside her again their hands brushed together. The winter air was dry and so his movements caused a sudden jolt of static electricity, giving them both a tiny shock as they touched. They both gave a quick gasp, quickly drawing their hands away, but then she was smiling, bending low to kiss the place on his hand where he'd been shocked. He smiled and they returned to their nap on the couch, one body acting as support for other, her head on a pillow and his in her lap, sleeping peacefully as the snow fell gently against the windows and piled up on the faraway streets below them. 


	4. our distance and that girl

"That girl... what does she mean to you?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"She's annoying." He was chopping onions, the action mechanical, his knife tapping against the cutting board in a rhythm so perfect that it was as if someone stood in the background with a metronome, requiring the chef to keep time in his movements. "And she talks too much."

"You seem to spend a lot of time with her."

"She'd complain if I didn't."

"You don't have to listen to her. You didn't have to invite her over for dinner."

"Nn."

"I think you're in love with her."

"Neesan." The chopping stopped. He looked up, across the counter and to the table, his face set in a frown. "I already told you."

She glanced away. "Ah..."

"You're trying to push me away."

"Ayumu, I--"

"I understand." His voice was quiet, dangerous. "You still love aniki."

"Ayumu..."

"We're growing apart."

"That's not--"

"It's fine." There came the sound of the front door opening and he bowed his head, laughing bitterly, the sound striking at her heart with a blow strong enough to damage but not to break. "I can pretend."

"Why...?"

"You said so yourself... the last time. I could grow to love her." He was turning from the counter, taking off his apron, something sad in his eyes, as if he'd been dealt a wound that would be impossible to heal. "But you need to push me away... so I can do that."

"Ayumu--"

"There has to be distance between us." He went to the door. "And you can't push hard enough."

"Good evening, Narumi-san!"

She came through the door and he chuckled, accepting her into his arms, and Madoka had to look away as they kissed, knowing very well that it was all a lie and it was all her fault, and feeling (even if just for a moment) a shred of jealousy for that girl who was so in love with her brother-in-law and too blind to see the truth. She had been like that herself, once, and wished she could be like that again, but the past would not repeat itself for her... only for them.


	5. anou sa

Sometimes, he knew, she just couldn't take a hint.

"But what is Narumi-san trying to say, exactly?"

"Stupid girl. I just explained everything."

"That wasn't an explanation! You just mumbled something completely incomprehensible about staying by my side and walking me home every night--"

He sighed. "Oi..."

"--and I'm sure I heard something about how terrible my cooking was, which was completely unrelated to everything else he was saying--I couldn't tell if he was trying to compliment me or make me feel terrible! And _then_, Narumi-san started saying that he really didn't like me at all--"

"Oi."

"--which is mean and cruel, but just like Narumi-san, I guess... but then he changed his mind and said that he did want to be around me, after all, and that without me--well, I didn't quite understand that, but mouu~! Narumi-san is so _confusing_! I have been nothing but nice to him--"

"Anou sa--"

"--and what do I get in return? I get--"

She, of course, wasn't the only one who couldn't do something: he just couldn't confess properly. So instead of trying a second time, he simply leaned across the table and kissed her.

That certainly shut her up.


	6. the space between dreams and reality

He liked watching her wake up--she was difficult to rouse sometimes, usually after she'd had a long, undisturbed night of sleep. Usually he had to wake her, because after hours spent studying she would sleep right through her alarm, and so he would rise from his bed in the next room and walk quietly into her own. After turning off the buzzer he would sit on the edge of her bed, one hand lifted as if he intended to shake her awake... but usually he stopped and decided to allow her just a few more minutes of rest. Sometimes he would sit, then, and watch her sleep, and sometimes he would slip beneath the sheets and lay beside her, fumbling to reset the alarm for ten minutes later. If he dozed off again he woke promptly to the second round of buzzing, and then knew that she would have to wake up or else she would be late.

On this particular morning he didn't want to wake up and neither did she, and when the alarm went off a second time they both stirred, reaching to silence it, fumbling helplessly and laughing quietly as their bodies became tangled with the sheets and each other. He told her that it was time and she shook her head, silently protesting, her lips touching the soft place behind his chin as she asked if they could stay home today. She could afford to skip class and so could he--he rarely went, anyway--and so they lay together in her bed, drifting in and out of sleep, unsure where their dreams ended and reality began. Regardless of this, though, they were together, and in each moment that existed or did not exist they were always side by side. 


	7. superstar

"Narumi-san's going to be famous one day."

"Hn."

"He's either going to be a detective or a chef, I think... or maybe both..."

She was smiling now, her head tilted back in the way it always was whenever she was teasing him, and in the past he would have considered this surprising but now it was not so uncommon. She tilted her head back and her braids fell over her shoulders and she smiled up at him with something that contained the barest hint of a smirk. "He's going to be very famous," she said, "and I'm no longer going to be important to him."

He looked down at her and slowly closed the textbook in his arms, not particularly interested in equations any longer. He had never been interested in them to begin with, but they had certainly done a good job of distracting him while she sat at her laptop and hummed that annoying song of hers. If he paid too much attention to her at any one time he would find himself humming that song later. "You," he said, and dropped the book on her head, "are an idiot."

It wasn't a very thick textbook and it actually bounced right off her head, but she howled with pain nonetheless. She sprang to her feet and made a movement to strangle him, and it was at this point that he simply grabbed her by the back of the neck and kissed her. He was always doing things like this now, although he usually wasn't dropping books on her head, and he wondered to himself as she made muffled noises against his mouth how it was she could still be surprised. He decided that he was teaching her a lesson and so he continued until she finally pushed him away, panting, her entire face flushed with blood. "What in the world was Narumi-san thinking--"

"Don't be stupid," he said. "Even if I become the most famous person in the world, I will never leave you behind."

He meant it and maybe she knew it because for once she didn't protest, and instead simply rubbed the back of her neck and sighed. 


	8. futari no sekai

This was their world. It was not his and it was not hers, but it belonged to the two of them and existed as something they shared. When they entered this world it was as if the portal to the outside had been closed off, as if nothing else in space and time mattered and the most important thing was the feel of his hands tangled in her hair. This was the world they had desired and the world they would continue to live in as long as they could.

"Narumi-san..."

The sound of his voice settled heavily on the quiet air and he gathered her close, his arms tight around her shoulders, breathing in the scent of her clothes and her hair. "What?"

"How long can we stay like this?"

He didn't know exactly what she meant and didn't need to know, because the answer would be the same regardless. "Forever," he said, and brushed his lips against her hair, "or as long as you would like."

"Forever," she agreed quietly, and in his arms she was content. This was their world and it would be theirs as long as they desired it, as long as they lived and breathed and walked together.


	9. dash

"I'm bored..."

She leaned out the window of the Newspaper Club Room and looked out on the schoolyard below, sighing heavily as nothing appeared to entertain her. The school day was almost over, and here she was, still stuck in this room, waiting for the rest of the club members to finish their articles. Her job as President of this club was usually entertaining, or at the very least something to keep her busy, but the day of their deadline was anything but thrilling. Time and time again, she was the only one done, and everyone else spent their last period of the day rushing around to interview someone or put the finishing touches on an article. Time and time again, she found herself waiting in this room for everything to be handed in, wondering idily to herself if they'd even manage to get the paper out on time. Time and time again...

"Mou." She sighed again and sank back into the chair she'd positioned in front of the open window, folding her arms across her chest and pouting. "I have nothing to do..."

It was a nice day, at least. Spring was in full bloom; not too far from the Tsukiomi campus, cherry blossoms rained down on sidewalks and streets, contrasting sweetly with the bright blue sky and that day's puffy white clouds. The sun was warm and birds were chirping, building nests and flitting from tree to tree. It really was quite picturesque. But as pretty as this spring day was, it couldn't quite keep Yuizaki Hiyono from being bored.

"Hurry up!"

At the sound of a gruff voice from somewhere outside, the blonde girl leaned forward and looked out the window, hoping for some excitement. What she saw was an afternoon gym class--the second year gym class, she corrected herself, recognizing a few faces in the crowd. A group of male students jogged obediently beside the school, led by one of the physical education coaches, a man who had a reputation for being unnecessarily harsh on his students. Hiyono made a mental note to dig up some dirt on him, just in case she needed it...

"I said _hurry up_!"

There was a chorus of "hai!" and the students all quickened their pace, jogging by Hiyono's vantage point without noticing her. She wondered briefly if it was odd that she felt completely uninterested in them. After all, they were teenage boys in thin shirts and shorts... Oh, but when in the hell would she have time for a boyfriend? She sighed, shaking her head at the thought. The Newspaper Club took up too much of her time, along with a certain second year student who--

Hiyono suddenly leaned out the window, blinking several times at what she saw below. There was a single student lagging behind... walking, in fact, not seeming to care that the others were a great distance ahead of him. That student... well, Hiyono would recognize that messy hair anywhere.

"Narumi-san~?"

He was almost directly beneath her third floor window; the sound of her voice didn't seem to startle him, but he did stop suddenly in his tracks, taking a step back and squinting up at her. After a moment his face cleared, and he folded his arms across his chest, a slight grin tugging on his mouth. "Yo."

"Why aren't you with the others?" she called, hoping no one was around to see them. This kind of conversation could get them both in trouble (although Hiyono's squeaky clean reputation would certainly help to get them out of it). "Did you hurt yourself?"

The question seemed to amuse him. "No," he replied, and shrugged his shoulders. "I don't feel like running."

"Hmmm..."

"Why are you leaning out the window looking like an idiot?" His grin widened as her expression soured--he always seemed to derive a great amount of joy from teasing her. "Don't you have work to do, President?"

She scoffed at him. "I'm already done."

"So you decided to bother me in the middle of my class?"

"I don't bother you nearly enough, Narumi-san~"

"I beg to differ." He glanced to his right, in the direction of the other students (who by now had probably rounded the corner of the main building). "If you're going to interrupt my walk, you might as well be helpful. Do something to get me out of this class."

She blinked, then sighed. "I'm not sure if I can come up with an excuse..."

"Just toss your hair out the window." He suddenly laughed aloud, the sound sending a sudden warmth through Hiyono's body. It wasn't often that he laughed like that, not around her. "I'll climb up and escape."

"... what?"

"Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!" He was smirking now. "What do you say?"

She stared at him. "You're crazy, Narumi-san."

"If you rescued me, I'd be sure to reward you somehow."

"I wouldn't want a reward from someone in smelly gym clothes."

"Well," he began, and unfolded his arms, "if you were a princess, I'm sure the only appropriate reward would be a kiss from a prince."

"A prince in smelly gym clothes?"

"... be more cooperative, would you?"

She smiled, feeling her face glow. Things had changed between them a little, lately... He had relaxed, and she'd become aware of the fact that he took up a good portion of her free time, enough to prompt people to ask if they were dating each other, or at least interested. And of course, they'd both been answering "no," but when Asazuki Kousuke asked again the other day, just to annoy Ayumu...

_"I don't have time for a girlfriend. She's enough of a hassle."_

_"So why not just make it official? Two birds with one stone, ne, otouto?"_

_"If I wanted to be involved with someone who spent all their free time annoying me, I'd get married. But, knowing her, that's what she'll drag me into eventually."_

_"Na--Narumi-san! I have no intentions--!"_

_"Well, I'm sure I'll still be around when you change your mind. After all, if I'm going to spend the rest of my life being nagged and ordered around, it might as well be with a stupid girl like you."_

"Oi. You stopped talking."

Hiyono leaned a little further out the window, smiling wider, waving a hand at him. "You'd better run, Narumi-san."

"Run?"

"NARUMI!!" The athletics instructor was suddenly racing towards Ayumu, his face flushed bright red. He was quite mad, evidently. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

"Damn. Can't be helped." The second year student sighed, then looked back up at Hiyono. "After class--?"

"I'll be here." She waved cheerfully. "I hope you can outrun him~"

"Maybe I can." He grinned. "Well, until then, princess..." Much to Hiyono's surprise, he brought his hand to his lips, then blew her a kiss. "Work on growing your hair a bit."

"... Naru--"

"Ja ne." He turned on his heel and quickly dashed away, just narrowly escaping the grasp of the infuriated coach. The chase began, and Hiyono watched, dumbfounded, as the two sped down the side of the building, then around a corner. Ayumu was sure to be in trouble after that, but...

The blonde-haired girl leaned back in her seat, her heart beating fast, and closed her eyes. One thing was for sure... she certainly didn't feel bored anymore.


End file.
